$100 Million Raised For MLK Memorial In DC

46 years after he gave his famous "I Have a Dream Speech" in Washington on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. is finally being immortalized with his own memorial in our nation's capitol.

With the historic inauguration of the U.S. first black president coming a day after King would've turned 80, if he were still alive, the amount needed to build the memorial has almost been reached.

According to AOL's BlackVoices.com, more than $100 million has been raised in donations for the construction of the MLK memorial.

The total cost of the memorial is estimated to reach $120 million, so there's still some financial ground to cover.
Former president, Bill Clinton, is one of the memorial's supporters, and revealed why during a fundraiser in Miami recently.

"I signed the legislation authorizing the memorial," he said. "I thought it ought to be on the National Mall because that's where he delivered his most important speech. ... Just nine days after my 17th birthday, and I could still quote that speech today. It changed America in profound ways."

The MLK memorial will be build sometime this year, on a four-acre corner of the National Mall, on the banks of the Potomac River between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.